Reconditioning: for a dealership in the preowned space, it is arguably one of the more complex processes between the acquisition of a vehicle and its retail sale.

Whom am I targeting with the sale of this vehicle? What needs to be fixed? What is worth fixing? These are all important questions — questions you may already know how to answer.

For many of our readers that are involved in the reconditioning process, they know how to identify and solve the necessary issues to prepare a vehicle for sale. But one issue, no matter how long you've been in the game, could still be quite challenging: how do I do this quicker?

Auto Remarketing reached out to several dealerships throughout the nation to get a variety of different viewpoints on the topic of reconditioning.

Although they face a host of varying issues due to their very different geographical locations, everything they do boils down to getting their newly acquired inventory prepped and ready for sale as soon as possible.

But before you focus in on a process, it's good to identify the end goal. For Harry Haber, the used-car manager at Capistrano Volkswagen in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., the goal is what has become an increasingly common expectation of used-vehicle shoppers: a trouble-free vehicle.

"From our standpoint, how we look at the reconditioning process is to look at the end-experience of the customer," Haber said. "What is the customer going to get? The customer wants to get a non-problem type of car. The dealership wants a non-hassle type of experience after the sale."

The situation works both ways: a happy customer leads to more referrals and less strain on the sales and service department relationship.

And that all begins with a vehicle that not only runs well, but also looks the part.

"Most customers who approach a car on the lot or online make a judgement about that vehicle in about three seconds," said Blain Marston, the general manager of the CARite store in Monroe, Mich. "This judgement may be conscious or subconscious, but the customer generally decides very quickly whether he or she wants to look at the vehicle in more detail.

"It's the old line, 'You only get one chance to make a good first impression.' With that in mind, we do not place vehicles on the lot or online unless those vehicles are ready to make that very important first impression — serviced, ready and completely reconditioned," Marston said.

Getting to the point of making a quick turn on a vehicle's reconditioning takes time to master. That's one reason dealers like Haber are constantly attending conventions such as the those hosted by the National Automobile Dealers Association, which he says he attends to check out new offerings from various companies to see if they'll help streamline his business.

"I look at efficiencies: what the new efficiencies are, what software programs are out there to make your systems more efficient, how to better the experience both for our customers internally and our customers outside," he said.

Haber says his average reconditioning turnaround time, many years ago, was 21 days. After some work with various dealership technologies and hosting numerous meetings with his reconditioning staff, they managed to whittle the time down to seven days.

"The key is communication," Haber said. "Using a system like Kanban Flow is a good system. Because then everybody's on the pace with where the cars are … Everybody knows where the cars are and in what stage."

Haber said he realizes that software can help keep track of the innumerable issues that can come up during the recon process, helping to cope with the inevitable human error involved.

"What happens a lot of times is, if it's not in front of someone, it gets forgotten, for whatever reason," Haber said. "We're people, we forget things."

The main reason Haber chose to use a business software program like Kanban Flow, which can be accessed for free, is its adaptability.

"It's easy to use, and you can use it on any device," Haber said. "That's the big draw. You can use it on desktop or on mobile."

But the seven-day turn is not where Capistrano VW stopped. According to Haber, their current average turnaround, including weekends, is four days — and that's despite the presence of additional processes in the reconditioning process due to state legislation such as California's smog requirements. He says this was achieved by streamlining the work-approval process during the reconditioning phase.

"It's self-authorizing," Haber said. "We were sitting at seven days, and we couldn't get it down below seven days. We found out if we self-authorize, it's a little quicker. Now what we do is we bill everything based on cents per mile.

"So, based on the car, year and mileage on the car, we use cents to mile for actual cost. But cents per mile is self-authorizing — so if a car has 10,000 miles, that's $500. So if they (technicians) spend over $500, then the service department eats it (the additional cost). If they spend less than $500, service department keeps it."

Of course, the example above varies based on the type of vehicle. Marston uses a similar system at CARite.

"We have a stated inspection process and allow a standard flat-rate fee for the initial inspection that is based on the type of vehicle being inspected," Marston said. "Clearly, a four-wheel drive diesel is going to require a different inspection than a small, simple compact car. If the reconditioning required falls within stated guidelines, it is an 'auto approve.' Anything outside of the standard requires management approval.

"We all do inspection write-ups online so that we can easily and rapidly communicate via email, which minimizes downtime for the tech involved because we can easily monitor labor and part costs."

Frank Fuzy, the co-owner of Century Motors of South Florida in Pompano Beach, Fla., has been in the business for 31 years, 15 years of which he spent reconditioning vehicles for the wholesale industry.

Four years ago, he and his wife purchased a certified center to assist in the reconditioning process at their own dealership. To Fuzy, it's all about the turn time.

"It's time and money," Fuzy said. "It takes time. I've got nine lifts in my building, and if I've got four cars sitting on a lift all day waiting for parts, it's a dead day — we're not getting the turn. You need the turn. My goal is to try to order all parts the first day the car gets in."

Here's where it can get tricky. For an independent dealer or an individual franchise, access to parts can be limited. Haber provided an example that occurs all too often when an off-make vehicle finds its way to his store, presenting what he says is the biggest challenge he has in the reconditioning business: preparing off-make vehicles for sale that they don't carry parts for.

"The parts department is dealing with a lot of cars," Haber said. "The tech's going, 'Oh, I can't believe it, I've got a Toyota in, we're a Volkswagen store.' And obviously we don't have this part because we don't carry those parts. Then they have to be ordered. When is the order going to come in?"

Utilizing partnerships with outside vendors to address issues that aren't always handled in-house, like paintless dent repair, is a must for a quick turnaround. Establishing relationships with neighboring franchises can be a good idea, as well, considering the nature of the recall business today.

"I've got relationships with many, but I'm still at the mercy of how busy their service centers are," Fuzy said. "It's frustrating. It takes time and effort." But for issues other than recalls, which an independent dealer could have repaired with his own mechanical staff, Fuzy has found that most of the time, the hardest part is acquiring the parts for the various vehicles that find their way to their lots. Fuzy, who aims at ordering all necessary parts the first day a vehicle is on site, has learned where he can save money without cutting corners.

"eBay has been our best friend," Fuzy said. "I can buy a $60 blend door actuator for a Lexus when it's $360 at the dealer. And they're brand new parts."

One possible drawback from that situation, however, is waiting for items to ship — which isn't always an option. This is where Fuzy utilizes what he calls a "second inspection," where he fixes the less immediate issues with a vehicle.

"Sometimes we have the ability to let it sit there for four days; sometimes we need it right away," Fuzy said. "It just depends on the emergency of is the car sold? Is the customer flying in in one day? Or do I have a week for shipping? So that plays an important part also in the final reconditioning. We'll recondition the major stuff first, then as we sell them it goes back through a second inspection."

In the fast-paced environment of recon, establishing and maintaining efficient repairs can be challenging. Even with the aid of technology and a well-trained staff, nothing can replace a good leader who holds a solid grasp on what's going on.

"You need to know mechanical, basically, if you're going to do reconditioning and have a service center," Fuzy said. "You've got to know what's going on. You've got to be the boss."

This story appears in the July 1 edition of Auto Remarketing, which focuses on reconditioning strategies for dealers.